F1 News
Date: 24/November/2012
Lewis Hamilton continued the
momentum from his US GP victory by leading both Friday practice sessions for
the Brazilian season finale, his last event before moving from McLaren to Mercedes.
The Englishman, who won the 2008
title by just one point at the Interlagos circuit, finished the day 0.274s
ahead of Championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton said: “We’re certainly
looking strong, but this place can be so tough on tyres that it’s hard to make
any accurate predictions at this stage. The track and ambient temperatures were
so high today that it felt almost as though I was sliding around the track with
the tyres melting!
“It’s great to have such a
positive final Friday with the team - it’s been one of the best Fridays we’ve
had for a long, long time, in fact. I’m savouring every moment of this weekend,
and I’ll be taking photographs of my engineers and mechanics through each day.
“The car feels really good -
thanks, guys - and it would be the perfect Saturday if I could take pole
tomorrow.”
Vettel, who holds a 13 point lead
over Fernando Alonso heading into Sunday’s title showdown, said there had been
no surprises.
“It was alright today, it was very
slippery for everyone. It was quite hot today and in terms of track conditions
not that easy, so I think everyone suffered the same kind of problems looking
for traction and stability.
“So far we can be happy, we have
to do our homework now, first comes tomorrow morning and we go from there.”
Alonso set the fifth fastest time,
0.566s behind Hamilton and a fraction slower than Ferrari team-mate and home
star Massa in the hot and dry conditions. However rain is forecast for later in
the weekend.
“The predictions are for very
different conditions from Saturday to Sunday,” confirmed Alonso. “It’s hard to
say if we prefer rain or the dry: as I said before, it is vital to be prepared
to tackle both situations.
“We know we have to score 14
points more than Vettel for the Championship and not lose the same number to
McLaren to maintain our second place in the Constructors’. Our targets are
clear, but also difficult to achieve.”
Michael Schumacher, the driver
Hamilton is replacing at Mercedes, was seventh fastest on a day when the top
nine drivers were covered by less than one second.
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